Liver disease Flashcards
acute hepatitis duration and etiology
b. ACUTE: <6 mo; self limited
i. Etiology: viruses, drugs, alcohol
chronic liver disease duration
c. CHRONIC: >6 mo; unresolving; often leads to cirrhosis
systemic infection whose primary manifestations are hepatic
viral infection
b. Serotypes: A, B, C, E, G
infection with the delta particle is dependent on concomitant infection with …
i. D (Delta) subtype of hepatitis B
what type of hepatitis is usually mild but severe in pregnancy
hepatitis E
seen with a 20% mortality in pregnancy
which type of hepatitis is associated with travel
Hep A
which hepatitis infections are usually more severe
B and C
more severe, higher incidence of morbidity & mortality
sxs associated with hepatitis infection (initial)
” Flu-like syndrome (fatigue, nausea, myalgias)
“ Abdominal Pain
70% of pts will be seen with these symptoms
70%
“ Tender, palpable liver
“ Posterior cervical LAD
“ Splenomegaly
“ Jaundice usually disappears 2-8 weeks after onset
**Have to get a pretty high bilirubin to get icterus
Labs that will help dx hepatitia
Transient anemia,
lymphocytosis with atypical lymphs,
increased reticulocyte count
reticulocytes
what are they and how do they relate to hepatitis
increased in hepatitis
= cells that come out of the bone marrow which will differentiate into WBC and RBC
- Bone marrow’s response is to make a bunch more of new cells in response to the transient anemia
Level of____ indicates severity of disease
ii. Increased direct and total serum bilirubin
1. Level indicates severity of disease; indicates level of jaundice
what increases in liver enzymes would you expect to see in a pt with hepatitis
- ALT typically higher than AST
2. Provides a rough estimate of hepatocellular injury but no prognostic value
when would we expect to see an elevated alk phos in a pt with hepatitis
iv. Alk Phos rises early ands often remains elevated after clinical recovery
what Prothrombin time would we expect to see in a pt wiht hepatitis
usually normal; if elevated suspect fulminant hepatitis
so much inflammation and destruction of liver that the liver is starting to fail
- Fulminant hepatitis
what is going on in Fulminant hepatitis
a. Liver is not making clotting factors anymore
b. This is a sign that pt is not going to do very well
Rapid fall in serum aminotransferase associated with
aminotransferase from high to normal in < 1 week may be an indication of fulminant hepatitis with massive necrosis / destruction of liver parenchyma
should not see significant drops
i. Acute viral hepatitis usually resolves completely in
1-3 weeks
how do you treat acute viral hepatitis
ii. Treat nausea, vomiting, anorexia
1. Compazine or other antiemetics
iii. Benadryl, Atarax
Benadryl, Atarax
- Sedatives may precipitate hepatic encephalopathy
- For their itching (sedating antihistamines)
- When bilirubin gets really high, their skin becomes really itchy. Pt’s w/ jaundice itch a lot
what should be avoided in acute hepatitis
iv. Avoid ETOH and tobacco use, hepatic cleared meds until 1 month after all labs return to normal
i. Most common type of acute hepatitis
a. Hepatitis A
characteristics commonly associated with hepatitis A epidemics
- Poor hygienic conditions
- Contaminated water supply
- Infected food handlers
- Ingestion of contaminated shellfish
- Institutions/daycare
iii. Doesn’t cause chronic hepatitis
high prevalence of Hep A in this country
Mexico
when did we start vaccinating children for hepatitis A
what is the dosing?
- Incorporated into routine childhood vaccination schedule in 2006
a. 2 doses starting at 12 mos, 6-12 mos apart
when would you vaccinate an adult for hepatitis A
- recommended for high risk individuals
a. Chronic liver disease
b. Clotting disorders - should be vaccinated against A and B
c. Occupational or travel exposure
gold standard for dx hepatitis A
” Serum anti-HAV IgM antibodies gold standard detecting acute illness
when would you expect to see positive Anti-HAV antibodies in a pt with heptatis A
” Anti-HAV positive at onset of sx, peaks during convalescent phase, remains positive 4-6 mos
other than anti-HAV IgM what other labs would we expect to see
” Serum ALT > AST (b/c viral)
“ Bilirubin > 10 common
Hep A does have positive antibodies test at ONSET of symptoms
Tx for hepatitis A
tx is supportive
acute infection confers immunity
prognosis
- 85% have full recovery w/in 3 months and nearly all have complete recovery by 6 months
Fatalities most common in elderly or those with chronic Hep C or with other comorbidities
ULN for ALT
iii. Upper limit of normal is around 40 for ALT
ULN for alk phos
iv. 150 = upper normal limit for Alk Phos
v. 1= upper normal limit for Tbili
transmission fo hep b
i. Usual transmission is blood borne
- IV drug use or vertical transmission from mom to baby most common
ii. Less common: sexual transmission
A 56 yo male calls your office c/o 1 week h/o fatigue, flu-like symptoms, abdominal pain and nausea. He has been using “those contaminated berries from Costco” in health shakes for the past 6 weeks. On PE he appears WDWN, fatigued but in NAD; VSS; no icterus or jaundice, liver tender without HSM, neg Murphy’s sign, no peritoneal signs
what labs would you get
- CBC normal
- Elevated LFT’s: ALT 300, AST 200, Alk Phos 250, Tbili 2.5
- Anti-HAV IgM positive
hep a
supportive care
A 56 yo male calls your office c/o 1 week h/o fatigue, flu-like symptoms, abdominal pain and nausea. He has been using “those contaminated berries from Costco” in health shakes for the past 6 weeks. On PE he appears WDWN, fatigued but in NAD; VSS; no icterus or jaundice, liver tender without HSM, neg Murphy’s sign, no peritoneal signs
what would be the follow up for this pt
- Recheck his LFTs within a week, if symptoms get worse then come in sooner and recheck sooner - repeat CBC and LFTs
a. Don’t need to recheck hepatic antibody
what other hepatitis is associated with Hep B
iii. Delta agent (Hep D): defective virus particle, same route of transmission assoc with Hep B
- Causes clinical exacerbation for Hep B carriers
- Implicated in fulminant hepatitis
- Rapid progression to cirrhosis